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Pyar Mohabbat (1968)

Hackneyed fairy-tale featuring a lost prince returning home? Check. Shrill Saira Banu opposite preternaturally youthful Dev Anand? Check. Portly Premnath as an evil Senapati? Check again. Did I like the film? Oh hell yes! What’s not to love about a movie that advertises a cast of “about 500 Indian & International junior Artistes” and delivers on that promise? Who cares if the plot is silly? Not I, given a frothy sixties travelogue with ports of call in a Middle East populated by blonde belly dancers and stoned hippie extras. I love to see my people in Hindi movies. Plus, Shankar Jaikishan provide some seriously catchy tunes to accompany all the onscreen antics.

The Maharaja of Devalgarg (Murad) is quite literally drowning his sorrows in whiskey plied by courtesan Mohini (Shashikala), who is in cahoots with Senapati Uday Singh (Premnath). The king’s sorrows are that his younger brother and heir Naresh left home after an argument 14 years earlier, and his mother the Rajmata moved out too as a result. Uday Singh is certain that Naresh is dead—not a word has been heard from him—and he makes his move towards the throne by murdering the drunken king on a hunting trip and claiming that he was eaten by a tiger.

Little does he know that Naresh (Dev Anand), now calling himself Dilip Singh for some unknown reason, has decided to return home and reconcile with his elder brother. Luckily he is returning via cruise ship: after all, we need a good hour or so for him to woo imperious spoiled rich girl Rita (Saira Banu) in exotic locales before we can get down to the business of punishing the treacherous Uday. Regular readers know that I am not the biggest Saira fan in the world, but at least in this story she has good reason to be screeching her head off.

Her Thakur father (Harindranath Chattopadhyay) has sent Rita (whom he and his secretary Asit Sen call Baby) to be educated in London, but is now bringing her back to India against her will to get married and settle down. She is threatening to disembark at the next port and run away back to England. She has also caught Naresh’s appreciative eye (he and actor David sing the charming “Dekho Dekho Madam” to her); and after Naresh proves that he can handle haughty Baby by tossing her in a swimming pool the Thakur begs his co-passenger to keep an eye on his rebellious daughter.

This is all good since it is an excuse for lots of idiotic disguises and footage of Egypt’s pyramids, and several fun songs including a belly dance in a nefarious brothel touted as the “Institute of Dance & Drama” as Naresh chases Rita from port to port.

I am pleased to see my favorite gori dancer Lino (actually Leonara, according to my pal Ted Lyons) in a song aboard ship.

When Rita tries to leave the dance floor in a temper, she is stopped in her tracks by an enthusiastic man and compelled to do the twist. Lord, I love the Indian Twist! It’s like a drug.

I should also point out that Saira looks beautifully stylish in this film (her mother Naseem Banu designed her outfits) even if she is annoying. Somehow Dev is a better foil for her too than, say, Dharmendra; possibly because he himself has a penchant for being center stage and sort of overpowers her instead of the other way around.

Naresh is forced to rescue Rita from the aforementioned brothel owner (Sulochana in the best madam outfit ever—I love the sequinned eye mask on her veil) who schemes to sell her to the highest bidder.

Enter some of the Indian & International junior Artistes in the fabulous “Tujhko Dekh Kar Noorullha.”

Would YOU be creeped out by dolls hanging on a wall as decoration? I am.

Rita finally realizes she loves Naresh after she escapes from the ship on a life raft and he jumps in and swims after her. The cruise ship and all aboard inexplicably leave them to it—no “man overboard!” for this bunch, no no. Perhaps they are tired of the irritating Rita too. Eventually after days of drifting at sea and much hardship (Rita fashions a dress for herself out of the sail, apparently deeming it superfluous to their survival) plus another song, they are rescued from near death and Naresh takes her home to her father in India.

The Thakur has bad news for Naresh, though. He asks Naresh to forget his daughter: Rita is already engaged—to the new King of Devalgarg!

Worried, Naresh leaves in a hurry (without telling Rita) to find out what’s going on at home. In Devalgarg, the grief-stricken and blind Rajmata (Durga Khote) has decided to hand over the kingdom to the trusty Uday Singh.

In India, apparently, you really can cry your eyes out!

Evidently everyone in Devalgarg except the Rajmata knows that Uday Singh has murdered the king in order to take the throne for himself. Duly warned, Naresh decides to keep his real identity secret for a while longer. He befriends Uday Singh (and Mohini) as Dilip and is made welcome at the palace. And pretty soon the Thakur shows up with Rita in tow for the engagement ceremony (Devalgarg law conveniently decrees that a new Maharaja must be married before he can be crowned).

Can Naresh save his kingdom (and Rita) from Uday Singh? Or will the wily Senapati prevail AND marry poor Baby?

If you don’t expect much in the way of originality or common sense, this is a fun watch. The music is really nice and the cast competent if not overflowing with charisma (Dev is quite charming actually). Besides the aforementioned dances there are two Sharda numbers. I know that she’s not everybody’s cup of tea but I love her, especially in the melodious “Sun Sun Sun Re Balam.” I somehow always expect to see Doris Day and Rock Hudson on the horizon when I hear her voice. It’s a nice change from the Mangeshkars, lovely though they are; if nothing else do find all the songs online and watch them.

Hmm, I guess I need to see more Dev Anand movies to see him dance then. I never see him doing more than walking with his body tilted at an angle, arms limp at his side, nodding his head!

This movie looks like great fun, I’ll need to check it out. I’ve only seen Harindranath Chattopadhyay in Bawarchi, which I guess was his most famous role, so it’s neat to finally see him in something else.

Fantastic review, Greta. Thoroughly enjoyed it!
Had me ROFL in many places
like
“at least in this story she has good reason to be screeching her head off”
“Rita fashions a dress for herself out of the sail, apparently deeming it superfluous to their survival)”
“In India, apparently, you really can cry your eyes out!”. :-)

Saw this movie as a very young kid – the only things I remembered from that time were 3 songs – “lollipop”, “sun sun sun” and “pyar mohabbat”. They were all quite popular.

Then I saw this movie a few years ago – and I remember it went all over the place (literally).

Now, after reading your review, I think I need to see it again. Somehow when I see a “seen” movie after reading your review, it always seems
different from the previous time. You add all those small details (like Sulochana’s eye mask, gori dancer, Indian twist…) that I would never otherwise notice but hugely add to the fun aspect of watching a movie.

Thanks for this lovely review.

One other thing. The guy in the last screen shot looks like Narbada Shankar. Is his name in the credits? He can be seen in many movies – and often has a decent (talking) role too. He is often in the credits. I notice that you don’t have him in your artist gallery yet. Could you please add him there? Merci beaucoup en avance. :-)

Those are the little details that make me love Hindi films :) And I wondered who that guy was—I don’t remember his name in the credits, but I know I have seen him in lots of other things. Thanks for the name, I will certainly add him forthwith!

I am sure you did not spot my father in this film. It was a small role but I was happy to see him sharing screen space with my favourite hero Devanand. Though I have never been able to appreciate his acting I have always found Devanand very charming. So can you spot my dad?

I saw his name in the credits but could not find him on either viewing—I watched it through, and didn’t see him; then when I was screencapping I remembered to really look for him but still didn’t (although I didn’t watch it completely all the way through the second time around)…where is he? Do tell!!! :)

(And agree with you so much re: Dev—too mannered to be really a good actor, but so very charming!)…

I find it kind of disheartening since I seem to be the only one on here who thinks of Dev Anand as a great actor. =(

Oh well, at least he’s still loved.

You make the movie sound very interesting, Memsaab with you little details as Raja pointed out.

Too bad, Saira’s character doesn’t sound lovable like as the female Shammi Kapoor in “Junglee.” I really loved her in that movie! Too bad, it seems like her only really good role).

I haven’t gotten feedback from you for a while, Memsaab (which is the only reason I post on here). I was thinking about changing my username, but decided against it. I can guess your reasons, but I still hope and look forward to your future replies.

I like your user name, it is very evocative :) I can’t answer every comment I get…I try to respond to the ones on newer posts or when I have something to add. But I don’t always have anything to say (hard to believe, I know).

I think Dev was a good actor in his early days, but he (like Rajesh Khanna and others too) developed such a “persona” that he later became “Dev Anand” instead of an actor in a role. Saira is not horrible in this, but she’s probably never going to be one of my favorites…sorry :(

Ah, that’s alright. I just thought it might have had to do with my response to your “You Might Be Troll” message and the feedback stopped. I guess it was just coincidence. =P I’m just glad it wasn’t personal- I don’t think I could take that. I like you very much.

Don’t feel bad about Saira- I’ve only seen Junglee (which I liked her in). Other than that, can’t say I’m a big fan of hers based on that one movie.

Thanks for the clarification of Dev Anand- I thought I was going crazy being in the minority on Dev’s acting. I agree with you on him, btw.

A lot of his roles, (“Taxi Driver,” “CID,” “Johnny Mera Naam”) had more to do with a heroic, badass persona or debonnaire charm than talent, like Amitabh’s angry man.

Dev does make up for it with movies like “Kala Bazar” and “Guide”- latter more than makes up for it, one of the best performances ever! Also love his disguises- he’s got untapped comedic talent.

This one seemed rather bland and uninteresting, the only time I tried watching it. I was really kicked to see Dev and Saira together, but gave up half an hour into the film, since my attention kept wandering! I might give it another try for Harindranath Chattopadhyay, who was my favorite TV grandpa in some great telly comedies in the 80s. The biggest discovery of my childhood was that he was Sarojini Naidu’s brother (the name may not mean a thing to you, but she was all over our history books as a famous freedom fighter, poet and the first woman president of the Indian National Congress in 1925). Sadly, the only Hindi films I’ve seen him in, where he had a decent role, were rather hard to watch – like this and the Rajesh Khanna-starrer Raaz.

I think you’ve got to be in the right mood for fluff in order to get into it :) Devalgarg is how it was subtitled, which of course means nothing—but it did make me laugh out loud the first time I saw it. Seems like it should be a word that describes something, although I am not sure what exactly :D

bollyviewer, Harindrnath acted in a number of 70s movies. Yep he is Sarojini Naidu’s brother. Sarojini’s daughter Padamaja Naidu donated Sarojini’s house in Hyderabad named “Golden Threshold” (in the heart of the city) to Central University of Hyderabad. Sarojini as we know was also a poetess apart from being a freedome fighter.

HC also has a small role in Mehbooba–thats the only one I can think off that has not been mentioned.
For old grandpa roles I like (ok love) Om Prakash. Harindranath Chattopadhyay, comes off on the wrong side of old. I guess I am in the minority here.
His sister Sarojini Naidu otoh has been quite inspirational. I have an old photograph of her and my grandma that I use as a bookmark.

True, Saira Banu was so much in love with Dilip Kumar that she did only one movie each with his contemporaries – Deewana (1967) with Raj Kapoor and this one with Dev Anand. She worked in several movies with other stars of that period though.

It is sort of frightening how good he looked for so long. Like he drank the blood of babies or something :D Bless him. I don’t think the Khans or Akshay (he counts—42/43 is not so much younger than 45!) look nearly as good (well Aamir does, but botox is cheating).

Yes seriously, I didn’t even consider the present lot in the same boat, because a) they don’t look that young and b) as you say, they are cheating. But Dev-ji just looked ageless for a pretty long time. Blood of babies, it may have been.

Harindranath Dada, thats wot I call him is a superb actor, we can not forget him and Om ji as rivals in Tere Ghar Ke Samne 1963 , Director Writer Ace Vijay Anand, Dev Saheb and Nutan who made a fab jodi romancing, songs- all evergreens.

I have almost all Dev Sahebs movies so Forlorn I am with yu, I enjoy his movies, old or new it does not matter, I regard him and Guru Dutt who really gave chances to new comers in every department of Bollywood, if one makes a list of people that came in bcos of these 2 guys talent spotting then without doubt no1 can match them.

Dev and Tanuja never paired together again, am pretty sure about that, but a interesting trivia and many may not be aware of this-
and that is Dev had 2 movies with Nargis also in his earlier years namely-

Shashi
yes indeed Tarunda is in Kabuliwala,now pardon me I cud be wrong as I watched this Master piece quite some time back, was’nt Sajjan the father of Mini, see info under also and if I may add the cast here, many sites do not give full credits .)-

This is one of the best movies ever!!!!!!! Dev Anand was awesome in this movie but I hated Saira Banu’s ‘drunk’ seen!! This has loads of typical Indian twists – like being forced to come back to India to get married etc… but it still is a fab movie!!!

Thanks ash, Shashi, dustedoff, Fimbuff ( is it Filmbuff or Fimbuff?). It is 36 years since my father passed away. It is heartening to see that he still evokes such love and admiration. Thank you once again.

Memsaab I am sure you are dying to know about his role. Well I had seen the film decades ago so my memory is rather faint. However, I remember that throughout the film he sported a moustache and beard ; perhaps that was why he was unrecognizable. I remember 3 scenes—- one at the beginning; he tries to stop Murad ( Ithink it was Murad) from going hunting with Premnath. The second scene; there is a scene where Dev Anand is moving around in the palace when two hands pop out and Dev Anand is pulled into a room. Surprised he looks back and recognizes his faithful employee and exclaims “Ramu”. Ramu is none other than my dad who tells him about his elder brother’s murder and about all that is going on in the palace. There are some other scenes as well, for instance there was one scene with Saira Banu where he asks her to escape or something like that, I am not sure.
Well Raja – one of the visitors to your site —– has mentioned the ‘guy’ in the last scene — some Narbada Shankar—– well I do not who Narbada Shankar is, but if memory serves me right—– the last shot is of a bearded man clutching a skeleton and laughing loudly almost as if he were insane. Well that was dad. The skeleton was supposed to be Murad’s and Dads laughter indicates his happiness at his master’s murder being avenged by Dev Anand.

I will not be surprised if you tell me that you did not see these scenes. When the film’s master print becomes old the portions which are beyond repair are often deleted from the dvd.

Hi Shilpi, let me first say that I am always very happy to read your comments here. And to read about memories of your father.

I am also a fan of your father – and remember him very well from movies like Anupama, Anokhi Raat, Sujata, Oonche Log, Gumnaam and many others. I am always happy to see his name in the credits of a movie.

I remember his passing away very well. I was a young boy, watching Aankhon Aankhon Mein sometime in ’74 or 75. There is a scene early on where Rakesh Roshan is supposed to return from abroad and his dad (playing his father) is eagerly awaiting his return saying “Rakesh vilaayat se aane waala hai” or something like that. But then the father has a heart attack and dies all of a sudden.

I remember this scene because my elder sister told me at that time “Poor Tarun Bose, in real-life aso he died like this, all of a sudden”.

I may be totally wrong here – I do not know the circumstances of your father’s passing away. All I know is that that made a huge impression on me. In fact that is still my lasting memory of that movie – after 35/36 years. I have not seen that movie since, so whatever I am writing here is all from memory.

Just wanted you to know.

As for Narbada Shankar, I was referring to that last screen shot posted by memsaab here, not the last shot of the movie.

Raja I stand corrected with respect to Narbada Shankar. It is amazing how you remember so much about my father. You are right it was a sudden death and I had never seen him seriously ill. After he passed away I read in a newspaper that he was not happy with his own performance in the ‘Ankhon Ankhon Mein’ scene you have referred to. He had asked Mr J.Om Prakash whether he would like to re-shoot the scene. Mr Prakash assured him that his performance was fine and there was no need to re-shoot it. But as the journalist noted dad was obviously not satisfied and decided to re-enact the scene –for real — this time.

Memsaab I like to share these memories with his fans and thanks for providing me with a platform.

That’s your dad??? Well, he had a LOT of extra facial hair pasted on (and at the beginning when he has less, he’s not shown in any kind of close up)…but yes, he’s quite a pivotal character and I definitely remember him in the film. Just did not recognize him :) The magic of movie makeup!

Look fwd to the book on Dev Saheb Sid .), we are bought up on heavy doze of these rollickin’ 50s-60’s-70s movies and all the players ,so for me it does not matter how the phillum was, we had to see it given half a chance, still do,, we are truly the Loyalists .), and this applies not just me but my langotia yaar/s from Primary/High School in Kenya also.

The pleasure these folks brought in our lives, that can not be put in words, they just made our day, all of them…… that’s all we had those days, a lil radio playing limited music and movies, this is Nairobi I am talkin’ about.

Now that Shilpi mentions yes indeed Tarunda sported a heavy beard and a moustache in this phillum, those scenes did leave a mark on us, thats why it came so quickly when she mentioned it, it is quite some time since I saw this movie .).

I always mixed up Jagirdar Bhau and Tarunda in my yunger years, just as a btw, dunno why but it was there .)

Actually I can see why you’d mix them up. They look similar, played similar roles too…and yes, glad Shilpi told us where Tarun was in this because I did not recognize him AT all. Will have to rewatch the end scenes particularly for him.

Well ash you are not the only one to make that mistake most people did. Once the two of them were shooting in Kashmir for an American TV serial’Maya’ produced by MGM and Mr Jagirdar joked, “People here are saying how come there are 2 Tarun Boses”

Last night I was really wrecking my brains and trying to figure out where have I seen Gajanan Jagirdar Bhau and Tarunda together. And while watching this I really had to figure out who was who and where they were .)

Alas memory worked early AM, it was Apradhi Kaun from 1957.

It was good to see them together, and the rest of the crew which was –

Ash my mom says– I was yet to come into this world—- that due to the obvious similarity between the two my dad was supposed to play Mr. Jagirdar’s brother in Apradhi Kaun, but later the script was changed.

I tell ya if Dada had played the role of Bhau’s brother, we who were toddlers wud have to see the movie 3-4 times just to get the hang of it .), the storyline I feel really needed full attention bcos it was one of the most intriguing phillums we had seen,
Twists and turns. And with the Twins, rather TRIPLETS, bcos Bhau had a double role if I recall correctly.

Another Classic which I saw a few months ago- Dada played
Madanlal in Anokhi Raat 1968. Fab all round performance.In fact quite a few mystery thrillers was his forte like Kohraa,Faraar, goldie Gumnaam, Jaal.

One movie which I can not get hold of is where Dada played as TARUN, namely Mehmaan (1973), again a crime drama .)

Now here is one ‘riddle’ for yu Shilpi, call it coincidence or fate, yday I decided to watch a movie which I had missed in the 70’s as I had to leave hometown, thus missed it.

We all know super duo SJ were at the top in those years so when the movie came up, a VHSrip I had to grab it.

Vachan 1974

And guess what I saw, DADA has quite a big role in it, he plays elder bro of Shashi Kapoor.Rajendranath is Shashi’s side kick and Rajendranath’s dad is none other than the deadly K.N. SINGH Saheb, Indeed it is filled with 101 veterans.Music by SJ- rollickin’, think only 2 songs are on YT, there are at least 4 more !

In the movie credits Dada is credited as LATE Tarunda.

Now pls share with us,did he manage to finish this movie or. I am sorry I am not aware of the year he died so I can not figure out. If Aankhon Aankhon Mein was his last movie ie 1972, then VACHAN and along with

Jeevan Sangram (1974)
Mehmaan (1973)

must have been in the pipeline or were released much later. Somehow I FEEL that in VACHAN it his not Dada’s original voice, it is dubbed, or .

Hello Sophy, Anupama was one of dad’s memorable films . I was a little girl and I remember I hated seeing the scenes where he came home totally drunk. I knew of course it was all make believe but I just could not take it. Mom says he always praised Hrishida (Hrishikesh Mukherjee). He used to say a good director always brings out the best in an actor

ER…. Memsaab, I started watching movies, and we can add Dev Saheb’s movies from 1953/54 so truly am proud to admit I am still his fan to today, I will see all his phillums, it makes no difference if it was not liked by me, I will surely sit thru it. Once a loyalist always a loyalist, so am looking fwd to his latest Chargesheet.

ash, as far as I know he completed Vachan maybe a few scenes may have been remaining I do not know but this film released after he passed away. I think it was his voice, actually I saw it long ago I have to take a look again.He was unable to finish ‘Jeevan Sangram’. Mehmaan was complete while he was alive but was released much later.

Shilpi or any other readers, pls share with us if yu see Mehmaan anywhere in the stores, not seen in the big cinema hall either, so def on the wish list
and btw
The Ummeed print looks like a VHSrip converted to VCD, quite bad kwality but for collectors it is GEM .)

In reply to my earlier post, my book is NOT on Dev Saab but on Navketan the institution. Lots of Goldie and others too. Dev Anand’s book has done very well but he barely talks about the film making part.
Also, Shashi, Vijay Anand had already made Nau Do Gyarah before Kala Bazar and had also part written Taxi Driver.

It would be nice if u cud cover Devanand’s superhits Warrant and Darling Darling with Zeenat Aman and Manpasand,Lootmaar with Tina Munim and Banarasi Babu,Joshila,Shareef Badmaash with Rakhee and chupa rustom,amir garib with Hema Malini

Screechy is the right word to describe Saira Bano!
I was thinking that since Dilip Kumar was/is Saira’s hubby, maybe Dev Anand was playing off of that name rather than Naresh? :P

The man in the last screen cap (Narbada Shankar as someone pointed out) is seen in lots of movies in the 50s/60s. I remember him most prominently from Guide where he plays a pundit and when he and another fellow pundit feel threatened with Raju guide’s growing fame as a holy man they test him on his knowledge of sanskrit and shastras by asking him to translate some shlokas. Raju guide retorts in English. It’s a hilarious scene and makes him a memorable character for me. He’s also a pundit in Ganga Jamuna refusing to let Ganga (Dilip Kumar) marry Dhanno (Vyjantimala) because of her lower caste, and is duly chided by Ganga for his hypocrisy. Nice scene. Have you seen Ganga Jamuna, memsaab? It’s a must see. This is the movie that made me see why people admired Dilip Kumar – all the way from Dharmendra to Shahrukh Khan! He is awesome in the movie and so is Vyjantimala with their Bhojpuri accent.

107 now (well, NOW 108 ;-)…there were so many tangents we all had to go down and discuss stemming from this film, LOL :) Harindranath Chattopadhyay, Tarun Bose, Narbada Shankar, the many virtues and faults of Dev Anand and Saira Banu…

Will see this movie… I like Dev Anand very much, His movies gave my fav singer Kishoreda the best of the songs and a career ( 50s to 70s) which only Rajesh Khanna enhanced in the later 70s.. May be this movie did not have Kishore crooning for Dev saab -(;

If anyone has doubts if Dev saab could act or did act at all, they MUST see his Bambai Ka Babu with effervescent Suchitra sena s leading lady and directed by the ever- dependable Raj Khosla.. cant imagine How our memsaab has missed it in her reviews till now…( PS: BKB is said to be based on O henry’s short story Double dyed deceiver)

Dev’s fan following here in India is huge. Wonderful actor and a very handsome one at that. Women used to go crazy in a black suit so he was banned from wearing one. How about a post on that Memsaab.
By the way Pyar Mohabbat had dialogue by my father Vrajendra Gaur.
it was in Denmark during the shooting ofthe movie that Dev had stumbled across the iconic cap he wore in Jewel Thief. My dad was with him in a store in Denmark when he found the Cap
Suneel Gaur
Mumbai